Guwahati: Launching a tirade against successive corrupt, inefficient and indifferent’ Congress governments for failing to develop Assam despite its bountiful natural resources and, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday promised ‘ speedy, all-round development’ addressing a series of five poll rallies on both the banks of Brahmaputra river in Assam.
The most significant of Modi’s rallies was at the scenic river island on Majuli in the bosom of Brahmaputra river for the reason that it was for the first time a Prime Minister of the country set his feet in Majuli in the last 68 years since Independence.
The BJP has fielded its chief minister candidate and Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, Sarbanada Sonowal, from Majuli LAC, considered an ethnic melting pot and cultural capital of vaishnavite Assam. Modi castigated Congress government for failing to promote wonderful Majuli island a popular destination over the years despite the tremendous potential.
“At the time of Independence Assam was one of the top five prosperous states in the country. The Congress which has ruled for 60 years since then, has ensured that Assam degenerates to the bracket of the five poorest states in the country today. Give the BJP a chance to rule Assam for the next five years to usher in an era of all-round development,” Modi said.
In all the five well-attended rallies at Tinsukia, Majuli, Bihpuria, Bokakhat and Jorhat, Modi said, “My fight is not against octogenarian Congress chief minister Tarun Gogoi (though he says his fight is against me) but against poverty, corruption and burgeoning unemployment that have become bane of life in Assam.” “I have only three agendas — development, speedy development and all round development – which will be panacea to all the problems dogging Assam like lack of power, proper education and health facilities, unemployment. That is why the incumbent BJP government at the Centre has allocated many times more funds for development of state’s infrastructure including roads, railways and bridges than all the previous governments,” Modi said.
In the rally at Tinsukia, located at the heart of the tea belt in eastern Assam, Modi tried to connect with the crowd by referring to his early days as a tea-seller. He said, “ I have a special bond with Assam as I used to sell tea produced in Assam to energise others.”
In the rally at Bokakhat (LAC) near Kaziranga National Park, Modi called upon people to put an end to rhino poaching by voting for the BJP. Regional AGP which is an ally of the BJP, has fielded its president Atul Bora from Bokakhat LAC.
In all the election rallies Modi heaped praises on BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal, describing him as one of his best ministers whom he is going to sacrifice for the sake of Assam’s development. “There is only one ‘anand’ (joy) in Assam, it is Sarbananda, “ he said describing Sarbananda as a bright, efficient and a gem of a person. “You give Sarbananda five years and BJP and its allies will pull Assam out of its difficulty,” he said.
“Even a prime minister can inaugurate one, two or three projects by pressing a button. You can start a new era of development by pressing the EVM button. Your power is more than that of a prime minister,” he said.
Modi, however, made no mention of the contentious issue of infiltration from Bangladesh, a major poll plank of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, and chose to stick to his development theme and lack of progress in Assam.
Assam is going to polls on April 4 and 11. The BJP-AGP-BPF alliance is giving the ruling Congress a tough time to prevent the latter from coming to the power for the fourth time in a row.